He was a private pilot, then a Navy pilot on active duty for four years.
Senator Garn piloted the T-34 SNJ, T-28 SNB, S-2F PMB and P-2V7, flying
reconnaissance missions over the Sea of Japan. Then when he returned to Utah,
there was no Naval Air Reserve. Because his love for flying was greater than his
loyalty to the Navy, he transferred over to the Air Guard. He flew for nearly 20
years and retired as a full colonel. Garn was elected to the US Senate from Utah
in 1974.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

In November 1984, Senator Garn was invited by NASA to fly as
a payload specialist on the space shuttle Discovery Mission STS-51-D.
During the seven-day flight, he performed various medical
tests. E.J. "Jake" Garn, a U.S. Senator from Utah, was
the first public official to fly aboard the Space Shuttle. Garn was
onboard as a Congressional observer. 51-D launched April 12 and was the fourth
flight of Discovery (OV-103). The launch was from KSC and the landing was
at KS on Runway 33, the nineteenth of April 1985. The mission lasted 144
hours (6 days), 23 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds

Garn completed payload specialist training to carry out numerous
medical physiological tests and measurements designed to detect and record
changes the body undergoes in weightlessness.

CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:

Garn is now retired from the Senate and often
speaks to various groups. He tells of his spaceflight experience with audiences
in his "Perspective from Space" address. He also shares, "It was his experience
in space that gave him a new outlook on life."